A Brilliant Conflict

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Blistering performances.

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

I usually don't like Indy films, I usually don't like updated fairy tales. I'm not a film critic and unlike a lot of people on IMDb I don't pretend to be one. I'm just average American public and I loved this film! I discovered it last night and watched it and was enthralled. It's amazing to think that maybe this was what Peter Pan was about when you were a little kid and you just didn't understand it then.I watched it again tonight, it was just as good. I've decided I need to have this in my collection! I really want to catch a good buzz and watch it again and see what I get out of it. There's just certain movies that are better with a buzz and I think this may be one of them. If so my rating will go from a 9 to a 10!

This movie is so REAL, and so ACCURATE. I met a situation in life that parallels it EXACTLY. If the writers only knew it's as if spirits take over their bodies and make them duplicate, right down to the dude who is Peter who smokes Clove cigarettes and dropped out of everything and worked for the Carnival before he went to jail and I even know Hook and all about his secret life, Hook (came from a divorce, the dad died, he was adopted by a wealthy man) is so pompous because he likes to play rich and lost a lot being wrong, and he works hard at good things and gets nowhere because he's bad in some areas, and doesn't know it, and Peter... he only likes weird chicks, and drugs and there's a few more women than tinkerbelle but this is only a movie! And well it's more than that, it's one hell of a message....ouivalerie@yahoo.com

Variety was absolutely correct when it referred to the movie as "... A Dark Reimagining of Peter Pan." In the end however, a range of factors led the movie to be nothing more than an attempt at breaking the mainstream cycle of "acceptable" films.The idea of taking the well-known story of Peter Pan and applying it to modern times, in an attempt to display current social problems is respectable and clever. What the audience received however was a movie in which the acting was lacking. Scott Mechlowicz surprising given some of his other works, appears dazed, and as if he is reading his lines off of a queue card. Melany Bell, although decent at times, tends to set the wrong emotions. Rick Sparks is just annoying as hell, and fails to really play slightly neurotic case of the "boy who wouldn't grow up." He comes off as more of the defiant adolescent, who rebels not because of his fear of society, or his fear of his inability, but rather due to his arrogance. Gary Kelley gave an excellent performance as Hook, although I would say that his performance didn't exactly fit in with the story-line, except for the fact that is disturbing, if not outright creepy. The majority of the other minor characters serve as nothing more than mouthpieces for the screenplay.Transitions in Neverland are painfully slow. In that dull, menacing, and irritating montages continue for minutes at a time, prompting me to fast forward. It almost appears as if they were added to boost the time of the film, due to the fact that they add absolutely nothing other than substandard music, vexing sounds, and shamefully dull images.The cinematography is by all means nothing special, nothing too innovative. There is one scene in which Hook is lecturing his employees that displays some amount of editing and camera talent. There were at times however, where the audio did not match the images on the screen.Overall, this film is a decent introductory film for director and screenwriter Damion Dietz. It tried to take a good idea and make a good film, but in my opinion failed. It relied too much upon stereotypical understandings of society's youth, an odd, if not unnecessary overriding homosexuality component, and what appears to be attempt to manipulate every aspect of Peter Pan as much as possible. It did, honestly, try to emulate the book more than say, the Disney version, but the extremes to which it is taken results in something of chaos.Also, it is interesting to note that a large majority of the highly positive reviews were the first, and only reviews of some IMDb members.

I agree with the other commentary on this movie. This movie is interesting in that it takes an otherwise "children's story" and sets in a hyper-reality, very much adult, setting. This allows the more adult aspects of the story to be explored. Adult issues such as drug abuse, sexual "norm" deviance, and avoidance of responsibility take center stage in this update. While a grand experiment, this movie ultimately failed for me on several levels:The cast of characters is far too large to allow for meaningful character development for ANY of the characters. The most prominent victims of this flaw are the lost boys. There are too many of them, and as such their decision to follow Wendy and leave Neverland seems more of a plot device than a real decision on their part, as is Peter's ultimate decision to return to Neverland alone.The Darling kids' decision to leave their home in the first place home was another problematic issue for me. Sure, they try to explain it during Wendy's "story" to the Lost Boys in Tiger Lily's dressing room, but as is the case with literary writing, showing is always better than telling. And the short sequence with the parents in the beginning is not enough to show me the kids' rationale. Wendy telling it to me just didn't cut it.And then there's the acting. Oh, the acting. "Bad acting" is being kind. It's a shame that an experiment of this caliber couldn't gain major funding and established actors, because the premise is fabulous. I find it very interesting that through most of the movie, the acting is horrendous from each member of the cast; however, the actors playing Wendy and Peter show their real chops during the last scene they play together. They both moved me incredibly during this final scene, and the fact that they were able to do so clearly demonstrates to me that the problem (at least for these two) was not the acting, it was the writing and direction. Both actors seem promising during this final scene, languishing in otherwise poor material. This movie felt like the writer began with the final scene and worked backward.Overall, I love the premise. I related to Wendy's concern for the drug-addled man-boy refusing to grow up because, yeah, I've dated him, and she completely conveyed the frustration in trying to break through the haze and reach him intellectually. The DVD is watchable, although grainy in parts and particularly blurred during the pirate dungeon scene. Watchable once.